Sunday, March 20

Fashionata...You've Come A Long Way Baby...

Boy has Calgary come along way! I went to the Fashionata Fashion Show at Holt Renfrew the other evening. It was a charity fashion show benefitting the Safe Haven Foundation.
What a beautiful event! Instead of a runway, they used the escalators that are in the center atrium of the new Holt Renfrew in the CORE. The clothes were beautiful and being the fashionista that I am, I want the Blumarine dress that opened the show.The production was comparable to any show of the international Fashion Weeks.Years ago, this would never have happened.....

When I left Calgary to be a model back in the 80's, I was literally on my own and escaping a fashion wasteland also known as Calgary in the early 80's after the National Energy program destroyed the economy and mortgage rates were 18% +!! There was no modelling agency behind me to help me navigate the crazy world of foreign models while I was fending off my sleazy French agent. I can truly say that I made my own career and that yes, I am Calgary's Original Supermodel and the first Calgarian to ever grace the cover of Vogue. Too bad I have never received the recognition here in my hometown. I was scoffed at by kids at school when I was discovered at the age of 15 by no other that John Casablancas, owner of Elite. I was never part of the 'pretty and popular' girls. I played sports and was a swimmer and diver. I never did the Miss Calgary or pageant scene.

Now Calgary has become a model scout mecca for finding the next 'It' girl. With all of our cultural diversity, Canada is rich in potential models. In my day it was Linda and Shalom, now its Daria Werbowy and Coco Rocha...

Calgary has also become a very strong fashion centre. The oil patch has recovered and money abounds here. This was very evident at Fashionata with women dressed in head to toe designer outfits. Some looked amazing, others need the help of my stylist friend Wayne Scot Lukas.

I have semi retired from the model world, but will be back with a vengeance very soon. I am bringing together all of my experiences together to make Calgary even bigger and better in the fashion world. We are starting to see more and more designers setting up shop here. The Brazilian shoe designer Carmen Steffens has a great shop downtown that sells beautiful shoe designs that are just as amazing as any Laboutin or Blahnik.

Women here are in need of celebrating their beauty. That is my goal this year. To bring beauty and glamour back to women in Calgary. Stay tuned!

Sunday, March 13

Another Fashion/Sports Parallel

In my last post, I spoke about the escalating violence in the NHL, and how it is only getting worse, not better. The Pacciorety incident was the straw that broke the camel's back (and by a miracle, didn't break Pacciorety's back). It has outraged many sports fans and has brought the issue of safety for the players to the forefront. Lets hope that this unfortunate incident will bring changes that will ensure a safer game for the players.

In the world of fashion, the debate about the health and weight of models has been raging ever since the early 90's. That was when the grunge look took over the magazines and models such as Kate Moss were replacing the Glamazons of the era: Elle McPherson, Cindy Crawford and Claudia Schiffer. It is no longer in fashion to be curvy and healthy looking. The more you look like a 14 year old boy, the more success you will have as a model.

Over the past two decades, the look of models has become increasingly skinnier and skinnier. This type of look has been enabled by the fashion elite (they know who they are) Once in a while there will be a huge outcry and the fashion establishment will promise that they will only hire girls with BMI of over 18 for the fashion shows. The promise lasts as long as a shoe at a 90% off sale at Jimmy Choos. How far will models go to fit into the image of perfection foisted upon them by a small group of 'fashionistas' and model agents? A few years ago, two models actually died from complications arising from suffering from anorexia nervosa. The straw that broke the camel's back in the fashion world was quickly hush hushed and the debate was yet again put into hibernation. This season during London Fashion Week, one of the models looked like she escaped from a concentration camp. See for yourself!

My point? The NHL and the fashion business are both sending the wrong messages to young kids.
" If you hit someone hard enough to cause major damage, don't worry, you will get away with it and not get suspended!!! It's part of being tough hockey player!!"
" If you get really skinny, you too will be the next Kate Moss and you will be loved and admired by thousands! that's what being a model is all about!!"

So wrong on so many levels..It's just wrong.

Thursday, March 10

An Open Letter to the NHL

Gentlemen,

I use that salutation hesitantly. The game of hockey is no longer a gentlemen's game. It was a game played on frozen ponds in sub freezing temperatures by young boys dreaming of being the next Rocket Richard, Bobby Orr or Wayne Gretzky. The love and passion for the game has been replaced by a band of thugs and criminals validated enabled and enticed by the likes of Gary Bettman and Don Cherry.

The violence of the game has gotten out of control. What should be a show of speed and skill, hockey has become the modern version of Roman Gladiators. The players have become bigger and stronger and the dirty hits are now causing severe concussions and possible paralysis. The c NHL should be held responsible for allowing this sort of behaviour to happen, and not ensuring a safe work environment for the employees of the NHL (the players).

The cheap hit that was given to Max Pacciorety literally made me sick to my stomach. I was watching the game with my boyfriend, who is a lifelong Habs fan. It was against the Boston Bruins. Before the game, the Bruins players were already trash talking in the press about how they were going to destroy the players from the Canadiens. The last time the Bruins played the Habs, the Bruins were on the warpath to maim PK Subban. Their actions were premeditated.

Max Pacciorety is in a Montreal hospital with a severe concussion, a fractured C4 vertebrae and there are people out there continuing to trash talk him and the Canadiens. The player who clocked him onto the pole didn't even get a game suspension or a fine. ARE YOU KIDDING ME? Luckily, the Montreal police is opening up an inquiry into the incident and charges may be laid.

Just because they are playing in a rink, this doesn't exonerate them from personal responsibility.

The NHL needs to stop the madness. This is Canada's game and as a Canadian I am disgusted by what hockey has become. It has morphed into a blood bath to appease American audiences.

I am not a lawyer but any intelligent person will agree with me on the following:
1. The NHL should be fined for breaking labour laws by not ensuring a safe workplace.
2. Players involved in cheap shots and hits should serve the time equivalent to the time the injured player is out of action. In the case of Pacciorety, the hitter, Chara, should be suspended until Pacciorety is able to play again.
3. Commentators must stop enticing and promoting violence in the NHL.

Clean up the game once and for all!!!! Bring back the game of speed and skill that is hockey!

Wednesday, March 9

It's Been A While...

Blogging is a funny thing. We become so inundated with information from the news outlets that to sift through everything becomes a task into itself. I envy bloggers that seem to write with such ease and grace I love to write, but do we really need another story on the Charlie Sheen public meltdown?

My boyfriend joked that we are now in Megalomaniac March. By looking at the newspapers and the television over the past week, i have to agree.

Besides the aforementioned Charlie Sheen meltdown, the month of March has seen Gadafi in Libya telling reporters that his people love him and that these riots are all being caused by Al Quaeda, then promptly bombs the $%^&* out of the country, killing the people that he professes that love him. This is a man who was proven to be behind the Lockerbie bombing, yet has been forgiven by the West. The country that he has dictated over for the past 41 years is a big oil producer. Canadian companies have drilling interests there. Since the riots began, the price of crude oil has risen to over $105 a barrel. But the West still continues to put up with him, because he has oil. Canada has much more oil, but because its in the oilsands, it is costlier and does pollute more than drilling in the Middle East. Murderous dictator vs. Global warming....

My solution? tell Gadafi to stuff it, and start exploring more of the oilsands in Canada,and clean up the tailing ponds. Oh wait! The Chinese have been buying up many interests in the Canadian oilsands! And we allow it!? Have we all gone mad? It is a natural resource from Canada. The Chinese have also been questioning Canada's sovereignity in the Arctic. Uhhh NO!

Then there is the drama behind the demise of John Galliano. Brilliant designer who unfortunately was coddled and allowed to run wild for years. One evening he tore into a woman and her companion at a bar in Paris ranting anti Semetic remarks. First off, the fashion business is full of Jewish people so Galliano was shooting himself in the foot. In this day and age, those types of comments don't fly. As any public person should know, whatever you do, you are at risk of being shown on Facebook or YouTube. You are no longer a private person and your life is there for all to see, good or bad. Apparently Riccardo Tisci from Givenchy will be taking over from Galliano at Christan Dior.

My take on this? They are all kakaputzy and should have gone to therapy long ago. Or even better, a good swift kick in the butt. Until someone puts their foot down and says 'STOP', these megalomaniacal characters will continue to flourish. We have seen it for years with Naomi Campbell and her temper, Kate Moss and her drug habit, countless other 'artistes' that just have no clue to what real life is...